Jinder Mahal reportedly faced off against Randy Orton in a dark match after SmackDown went off the air. The match ended with the former champion winning via disqualification, owing to interference from the Singh Brothers.
The aforementioned dark match is said to have transpired after the 205 Live tapings that take place after SmackDown Live. Most fans who attended this week’s SmackDown tapings at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio stayed back for the 205 Live tapings, following which Randy Orton and Jinder Mahal squared off in a singles match.
Mahal shocked the world this past Sunday by dethroning Randy Orton and becoming the new WWE champion, with a bit of assistance from the Singh Brothers. The Maharaja appeared at the aforementioned live broadcast of SmackDown with an extravagant Punjabi celebration.
Nevertheless, Randy Orton, despite being in the arena this Tuesday night didn’t feature on the TV broadcast.
The fans present at the Huntington Center got to witness, what many are calling, an epic encounter between reigning WWE champion Jinder Mahal and former champ Randy Orton. The match, however, would not have a definitive result, so to speak, as Orton would hit an RKO on Mahal only for the Singh Brothers to then intervene and attack the Viper.
The referee called off the match awarding Orton the victory by way of DQ.
Fans can watch a few exchanges from the matchup below:
Highlights from Randy Orton vs Jinder Mahal #SmackDownLIVE Dark Match 5.23.17 #wwe @TheVarble @WrestlingInc @pwstream pic.twitter.com/ForslOvlGq
— Brian The Guppie (@briantheguppie) May 24, 2017
SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon announced that Randy Orton will face Jinder Mahal for the latter’s WWE championship at the upcoming SmackDown brand-exclusive PPV event Money In The Bank that will take place in Orton’s hometown of St. Louis, Missouri on June 18th.
Jinder Mahal’s sudden push by WWE management has come as a surprise to both fans and pundits in the professional wrestling community and is one of the hottest topics of debate right now. Mahal was nothing more than a jobber a few weeks back and now holds the company’s most prestigious belt; hence, it’ll be interesting to see how WWE books him from this point moving forward.
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